


From The Start

by chasemclean



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Fluff, family life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 10:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13809639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chasemclean/pseuds/chasemclean
Summary: Jessica and Ashley met in high school, they clicked on the very first day, the rest is history.





	From The Start

**Author's Note:**

> There is a section that includes hospitals and injury, just in case anyone is sensitive to that type of thing :)

Ashley Jones was in high school, she was a senior and had just transferred all the way from Baton Rouge Louisiana to Middleton Wisconsin thanks to her dad’s new job. He worked for this big nationwide business and had just been promoted to some senior position, or something, Ashley didn’t really know. Her parents had told her what her dad’s new job was but honestly, at the time she wasn’t really listening. The move didn’t really bother her much. She had moved a lot, all over the south but this was the farthest north she had ever lived. 

Ashley had checked in at reception, gotten the new girl speech that she knew all too well and headed over to her first class: English Lit. Apparently at this school you could choose the subject you do, so that worked for her. English literature, English language, home economics and music were the ones that she’d jotted down on the options form. She got to the classroom and the teacher, without saying a word, pointed to a desk almost directly in the middle of the room, as if people wouldn’t already notice the new girl’s presence. She took her seat and got her books out and gently threw her bag at her feet. “Excuse me,” she heard a voice say. She looked up and saw that there was a boy leaning over. He had light blonde hair, short back and sides with it long on top. His eyes were emerald green with flecks of amber and his skin was impossibly clear for someone their age. Ashley looked up. “I just wanted to say hi, you’re new, right?” Ashley had never had this kind of greeting before, it was strangely warm but genuine at the same time. “Yeah, yeah I am, I just transferred from… well, from the other side of the country.” She replied. “I’m Noah.” He said, stretching out his hand for a shake. “Ashley.” She said with a smile, accepting the hand shake. 

The bell rang for the end of the lesson, it wasn’t that bad, just some silly little Macbeth cartoon that the teacher had put on for them to watch. Ashley had gathered up her books and was leaving the classroom when she heard Noah calling her from behind, spinning round she saw him calmly walking towards her. “Hey, I thought you might want to hang with me and my friends today, you can’t know many people yet.” It was true, Ashley had moved here without knowing anyone. “Sure, lead the way.” She said with a grateful smile. 

Noah led her over to the music room. Apparently this is where he and his friends hung around, it suited her, music was one of the subjects that she took. “Ok, guys, this is Ashley, she just transferred, Ashley, meet Jack, Emma, Dinah, Mason and most importantly…” Noah pulled the final girl into a purposefully smothering hug, “Jessica.” The girl looked exactly like Noah, their eyes were exactly the same, the nose, face shape and even the exact colour of their hair. The only difference was that Jessica’s hair was longer and wavy. “Nice to meet you all… sorry I have to ask, are you two twins?” Noah and Jessica looked at each other, looked at Ashley, back at each other and back at Ashley before slowly cocking their head to the side and answering in unison “Yes. We are twins and one of these days we will have the power to destroy you all.” They said in a monotone voice. It was creepy but funny and after a second they burst out laughing along with the rest of the group, Ashley found herself laughing along too. Over recess they found themselves talking about Ashley’s background, about how it’s funny that she’d move to Middletown Wisconsin because she was born in Middletown New Jersey and had gotten her slight southern accent from her constant moving. “I think this’ll be the last time I move, though. My parents might move again but not for at least another year and by then I’ll be in college.” The group nodded and said that it was a good thing. The bell signalling the end of recess sounded and most of the group, including Noah, headed out of the music department to their other lessons. Before leaving they all said goodbye to Ashley and said that it was nice to meet her. Ashley could see herself hanging round with this lot in the long run.

Eventually the only two left were Jessica and Ashley. “Where are you, next?” Jessica asked as Ashley pulled out her time table to check. “Right here, by the looks of things.” Ashley said as she scanned the piece of paper that she had been handed at the office. “Same as me!” Jessica exclaimed with a wide grin, grabbing onto Ashley’s arm to boost herself in a jump. Ashley didn’t mind. Jessica and Noah both seemed to be the lively types, bouncy and perpetually happy. “Which teacher do you have?” Jessica asked when her feet landed on the floor. “Uh, Miss Perry.” Ashley responded. She didn’t think that it would be possible but Jessica’s smile grew bigger. “We’re in the same class, too!” Ashley let out a soft smile. She was glad that she had already succeeded in making a couple of friends. They didn’t seem like complete nutcases, either.

Over the next week Ashley continued to go around with Noah, Jessica and the others. The twins and Ashley were sat on the music room floor with their lunch (don’t worry it’s not as gross as it sounds) chatting casually. “Tell us about your family then.” Noah said, sipping at his bottle of water. Ashley set down her lunch and took a breath. “There isn’t really much to tell, it’s just me, my mom and my dad. What about you guys?” Jessica and Noah were obviously very close, they didn’t speak in synchronisation or have any of those weird twinnie powers that you hear about on conspiracy websites but they were very alike, and very comfortable in each other’s company. “We have a slightly different situation,” Jessica started. “there’s us two, our mom and dad and then our little brothers, Caleb and Levi.” She said, taking another chunk of pineapple out of her fruit pot. “Caleb is four and Levi is three so they’re at that really cute stage where they can talk in full sentences but none of it really makes any sense.” Noah said with a laugh. “But that age is also really good because it’s socially acceptable to play catch with them!” Jessica said with a laugh. “Surely you can play catch with any kid?” Ashley said, confused for a second. “Oh, no we mean use them as the ball. We throw them between each other, it’s so funny.” Jessica said with a slight giggle. “Especially when mom and dad join in, then it’s just hilarious.” Noah added in, he was laughing as well. “Your family sounds like so much fun!” Ashley said, joining in with the laughter.

Jessica and Ashley were leaving the music room after their lesson. “What are you doing tonight then?” Jessica asked, nudging Ashley lightly. “Oh, I don’t know. Probably get to work on this composition, throw a bit of pasta in for dinner.” Ashley said with a light shrug. Her parents won’t be home until late, her mom worked a full time job, too. “On your own?” Jessica asked, slightly surprised. Ashley nodded. “Come round to ours.” Jessica said, with a smile. It took Ashley a second to process what Jessica had just said before she stopped walking. “Just like that? I couldn’t possibly, you’d surely have to ask your parents first!” Ashley said, graciously. Jessica laughed lightly before linking Ashley’s arm. “Nah, they won’t mind, people are always around our house. Plus we already have at least six people around the table each day, one more won’t make a difference!” They started walking again, bumping into Noah in the corridor who walked with them. “Noah, what do you think, Mom and Dad won’t mind if Ashley comes to ours for dinner, will they?” Noah gave a hearty laugh and looked over at Ashley. “The more the merrier, they say, they’d love it, they wanted to meet you, actually.” It was settled, Ashley would be going to the Smith’s for dinner. 

She quickly dropped her mom a text before walking up to Jessica and Noah’s car. It was a little Ford Focus, a little beaten up, but overall in good condition. “Who drives, then?” Ashley asked as the approached. “Oh Jessica, for sure.” Noah replied hastily before literally jumping into the back seats. “I’ve passed my test and all, but she is just so much better!” He laughed, stretching himself out. Jessica motioned for Ashley to hop into the front passenger seat as she took her own position at the wheel. They listened to music, sourced from the glove box. “Who’s CDs are these?” Ashley asked as she flicked through the plastic wallets, especially interested in the Beatles and Adele songs that presented themselves, pushing a couple into the car’s CD player. “Mine,” Jessica replied brightly, “you can’t beat the Brits when it comes to music.” Ashley was inclined to agree as she carried on flicking through. 

Before getting to the Smith household they had to pick Caleb and Levi up from day care. Ashley felt a little awkward as she followed Noah and Jessica through the gates of the day school. She immediately spotted two little blonde boys sprinting at full speed at Jessica and Noah. One of them was a little bigger, and faster than the other, presumably Caleb. Noah and Jessica both crouched down to receive a little guy each, Caleb barrelled into Noah, knocking him flat on his back. Noah wrapped his arms around his little brother as he stood up, lifting Caleb with him. It took a couple of seconds more for Levi to reach Jessica, who already had a plan, one foot in front of the other, as soon as the three year old collided with her, she stood up, picking him up into a hug. The sweet little moment lasted a couple of seconds before a woman approached the siblings. With her she carried two little backpacks, one of them had Iron Man on the back, the other, Captain America. Jessica and Noah took one each, expertly slinging them over their backs without even having to put their brothers down. They both rested a kid on their hip before turning to their teacher. “How were they?” Jessica asked with her trade mark warm smile. “Good as gold.” The teacher said. It turns out that Caleb and Levi were only eleven months apart, with Caleb being born in September and Levi being born in August the next year, meaning that they were in the same grade, despite the age gap. “Glad to hear it!” Noah said to the teacher, giving Caleb and Levi a high five each. The twins thanked the teacher as she walked away and went to talk to Ashley, who was pretty happy simply assessing the situation. 

“Hey, guys, this is Ashley, she is coming over to our house for dinner tonight!” Jessica said with a smile as she walked over to Ashley. There was a little chorus of hellos before they strolled over to the car. Ashley was struck by how similar the siblings looked, they all looked exactly the same, it was almost as if the Smith clan had been built in a lab. They made their way back over to the car, each of the twins pulled out a car seat from the trunk, fixing them into the back seats, strapping Caleb and Levi in, quick as a flash. Ashley noticed that there wasn’t much room left in the back. “Wait, will there be enough room for all of us?” She asked once the boys were all set. Noah was walking around the back of the car. “Oh yeah, sure, I just sit in the trunk.” It took Ashley a second to process what the six foot blonde had just said. “Wait, what? That can’t be legal!” She said, half surprised, half laughing. Noah shrugged and smiled. “It’s not but we do it all the time, I wouldn’t worry.” Noah was now fully in the boot and Jessica walked around the back, laughing to herself as she shut the trunk door down, after making sure that none of her twin’s body parts were sticking out. Ashley let out a chuckle as she took her place in the front of the car, spotting Noah’s head, popping up as he adjusted his position to sitting cross legged. 

They pulled up in front of Jessica and Noah’s house a couple of minutes later. It wasn’t too big, but wasn’t small either. It was white with a little garden and porch out front, littered in kids toys. Jessica immediately hopped out of the car and let Noah out of the trunk before moving onto her other brothers, the twins unstrapped their little brothers who hopped out of the car and sprinted to the door. Ashley leant into the car and grabbed her bag along with Caleb and Levi’s little bags. “It’s alright, we have them.” Jessica said. “No really, I’ve done nothing, the least I can do is carry two mini backpacks to the door!” Ashley said, laughing. She was astounded at how good the twins were with their younger siblings.  
As they approached the now open door of the house, a woman stepped out, onto the porch. She was blonde, Jessica’s height and wore a floral crop top and flowing maxi skirt two piece that definitely didn’t look out of place on her. Surely she couldn’t be their mom, she looked far too young! “Hey, mom!” Noah said as he jogged up the steps onto the porch. Huh. So she was their mom. “Hiya sweetie, good day at school?” She asked, hugging Noah. “Yeah, it was alright, the usual.” Noah replied as his mother did the same to Jessica. “Mom, this is Ashley, she’s over for dinner tonight, that’s alright isn’t it?!” Jessica said, gesturing over to Ashley. “Of course it is!” Jessica’s mom said as she leaned over to give Ashley a hug, slightly taken aback, Ashley returned it and smiled. “I’m offended you even had to ask! It’s nice to meet you, I’m Halle.” Their mom said, warmly smiling over at Ashley. She could see where the twins got all of their trademarks from. “It’s certainly, very nice to meet you, Mrs Smith, you have a beautiful house!” Ashley said, she wanted to make the right first impression and living in the south for so many years had taught her just how to do it. “Why thank you, very much! Oh and it’s Halle, please.” Their mom replied as she started to head into the house, her skirt flowing behind her. 

“Oh, Ashley, I’m really sorry but I have soccer practice in a couple of minutes, sorry, I completely forgot!” Noah said as they got into the house. “Why should you be sorry?!” Ashley laughed. It didn’t surprise her that Noah was a soccer player, she had expected him to be some sort of sports player seeing as he was taking phys ed as one of his options. Noah gave a grateful grin before calling a “See you at dinner!” As he rushed up the stairs. Jessica laughed and plonked herself down on the couch. “I don’t know how he has the energy!” Ashley laughed as she sat down next to her friend, breathing in a large breath of air, breathing out through her mouth, slowly but noisily. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Noah rushing out of the door with a sports bag, shouting his goodbyes as he left. “Three… two… one.” Jessica said, on one, Noah came back through the door and looked at Jessica. “Car keys?” Noah pleaded sheepishly as Jessica tossed them to him with a laugh. “Right then, let’s move upstairs, there’ll be less of a chance of running into the terrible twosome!” She laughed as she hoisted herself up, standing either side of Ashley’s legs and extending both of her hands. Ashley grabbed them and stood up, with a little pull from Jessica. 

Once they’d clambered over the two baby gates that just refused to open, they got to Jessica’s room. It was the attic room so there was a little ladder and what could only be described as a trap door to get to it. Ashley was slightly shocked when she poked her head into the room. There were wooden beams going across the ceiling, wrapped in gold fairy lights, there was a double bead at the helm with decorative curtains surrounding it. There was only one window but it was possibly the biggest feature of the room, it was round and large, took up a third of the side wall. One of each, an electric, acoustic and bass guitar hung from the wooden walls and in the corner was Jessica’s laptop on a desk, connected to a little synthesiser and a recording mic with a full size keyboard next to it. “Woah! Look at all this gear!” Ashley said, wandering over to the music equipment. “Yeah, I love it, and I worked for it all, I’m not some spoiled brat!” She said with nervous laughter, sitting on the edge of the bed. “May I?” Ashley asked as she hesitantly pointed towards the beautiful acoustic guitar that was hanging from it’s hold on the wall. “Of course,” she said as she observed Ashley picking it off the wall and settling on a wooden stool with it. “oh, it’s left handed!” Jessica said as the memo registered. Ashley simply turned and grinned at her friend. “Well that’s lucky, I’m left handed, too.” Jessica was relieved and even happy. Only left handed people knew the struggle of being a lefty and a musician. Decent guitars were almost impossible to find.

Ashley started lightly plucking at the strings of the guitar, Jessica immediately recognised the song. “You’re the only other person in the room,” she began to sing, along with Ashley’s playing. Ashley paused for a second. “Wait, you know Brennen Leigh and Noel McKay?” Ashley asked, slightly confused but mainly impressed. Having come from the south, she was very familiar with the two but most people, even southerners, didn’t have even the slightest clue who they were. Jessica walked over and took a chair, sitting by Ashley. “Sure do. Their songs are really relaxing.” Jessica explained, nodding at Ashley to keep playing. They both sang, Ashley taking the lower harmony while Jessica carried the melody. It sounded amazing. Neither one of them had ever sung the song as it was intended, as a duet and there was a moment of silence after they finished. Not and uncomfortable silence, quite the opposite. “I have something to show you.” Jessica hopped up and walked to the back corner of her window, picking up a long metal pole that was leaning against the wall. She gently poked the ceiling and it opened up, a ladder falling down. She climbed up the ladder and signalled for Ashley to follow on. 

They both sat on the roof chatting. The conversation flowed so easily and freely. “I can’t believe that is your mom!” Ashley said with an incredulous laugh. She couldn’t get over how young she looked. “She just looks so young!” Jessica replied with another laugh before explaining. “My parents were only eighteen when Noah and I were born, they’ve stayed together all of these years afterwards, she probably looks young because she is young, she’s only thirty five, we were born on New Year’s Day.” Ashley let out a little ‘aww’, “It’s so cute that they’ve stayed together all of these years and even had Caleb and Levi!” Jessica nodded and Ashley noticed a sparkle in her eye. “That’s what I want, you know. Not to have twins at eighteen, because man, that’s difficult! But to meet someone around now and stay with them. That’s the dream.” She said wistfully. Ashley agreed. There’s no better story to tell on your wedding day than that. Their thoughts were broken when they spotted a grey transit pulling into the drive. The man who stepped out was tan and muscly, wearing a tank top that displayed the half sleeve of tattoos that crawled from just above his elbow to his chest. “Who’s that?” Ashley asked Jessica, nodding over to the man. “Oh yeah, that’s my dad, come downstairs and meet him.”

By the time the girls had gotten to the ground floor of the house, Jessica’s dad was sitting on the kitchen island with a mug in his hand, by the smell, Ashley concluded that it was full of green tea. At a closer look she could see the tattoos a lot more clearly and she had to say that they were very impressive. The half sleeve was made up of a large, detailed picture of Hephastus and dainty little olive branches, all in black and white. The picture was greatly detailed and a masterpiece to look at. Ashley also spotted a series of letters running down the side of his forearm, ‘H, J, N, C, L’ presumably the first initial of his wife and kids. “Hi, girls!” He said as he spotted them, hopping down from the worktop and pulling Jessica into a hug, he shook Ashley’s hand, “I’m Alex, you must be Ashley!” he said, apparently this whole family beamed when they spoke. “I am, it’s nice to meet you, Sir.” Ashley said, returning the hand shake. She was confused as she saw Alex handing over a twenty dollar bill to Halle who pumped her fist in the air and pocketed the cash. “I told you, she’d say sir, I told you!” Halle laughed as Ashley turned slightly red. “Alex, please.” Ashley’s dad laughed as he gently patted Ashley’s shoulder. “Is a barbeque alright for dinner, you’re not vegetarian, are you?” Alex asked as he took the last gulp of his tea and rinsed out the mug. “No, no, that’s fantastic! I can’t remember the last time I’d had a barbeque.” Ashley replied. This family was awesome. “We have one every Friday… and today is Friday.” Jessica said, pausing in between to clarify that it was indeed Friday before quickly whipping a finger up and pointing it towards her dad, “If you dare start singing Rebecca Bla-“ Jessica was interrupted by her dad bursting out into song, he had a decent voice but it didn’t stop Jessica from charging at him. Alex easily lifted Jessica into a fireman’s lift, slinging her over her shoulder. He was a tall guy, about 6’ 4”. “Outside!” Halle cried, before anything could be knocked over. Alex carried Jessica out of the back door, fighting against her frantic kicking before setting her down on the grass. Ashley looked on as the duo called a truce and headed back inside. She got on with her parents but not like this. This family was really close. 

“Your dad’s tatts are works of art!” She said once they got back into Jessica’s room, both of them sitting on her bed. “I’m glad you think so. Me and Noah picked the sleeve before the boys were even born. The first Percy Jackson book had just came out and we were obsessed. It was dad’s thirtieth birthday so we all took a trip to New York and he decided that he wanted a new tattoo to mark the occasion, he already had our initials with the exception of Caleb and Levi, obviously. He had his own building company so we thought Hephastus would be fitting. But then we wanted him to get the olive branches too because we just thought they were pretty.” Jessica seemed fond of the memory. “I have to admit, I’m still slightly obsessed with the whole Greek mythology thing.” Ashley thought it was all very sweet. A pebble hit Jessica’s window, so she got up off the bed to check what it was. Noah was standing on the lawn with Levi balanced on his shoulders, having just gotten back from soccer practice, still in his kit. “Barbeque is almost ready!” He said, shouting slightly so that Jessica would be able to hear him. 

The table was already set outside and Noah was playing soccer with the boys while Halle and Alex loaded plates full of burgers and sausages. On the table already there was a mixed salad, a French stick, some chicken chilli skewers and a load of sauces as well as seeded bread buns. There was one thing that Ashley didn’t recognise. They were round and looked like they were covered in bread crumbs. “They’re called scotch eggs,” Jessica explained, almost as if she had read Ashley’s mind. “my dad’s dad was from a city in England called Liverpool, he was a docker and came over here for work.” Jessica said as she took a seat around the large table. “Bringing all of the traditions with him.” Alex added in a he placed a plate of burgers onto the table. “Ah ok, hence the love of the British music artists.” Ashley nodded. It made sense. “Oh, yeah! Can’t go wrong with The Beatles!” Jessica laughed. Noah tugged at his soccer shirt, “You won’t catch me wearing another kit, either!” he said, signalling to the Liverpool Football Club emblem on his chest.  
The day flew by into the night. It was just gone eleven when Jessica dropped Ashley back home, they parted ways, promising to meet up tomorrow to see a movie. Ashley got home and immediately went to bed, the best days always seemed to be the most exhausting. 

Weeks of friendship turned into months. It was July and two weeks from senior prom. Ashley was so well known to the Smiths now, she slept over every Friday, without fail and had almost become part of the family. Of course, Jessica came to Ashley’s house a lot, but they both preferred the family vibe or the Smith household. They were sat on Jessica’s bed, each with a scrapbook open. “So I really like this one.” Ashley said, pointing towards one of the dresses in the scrapbook. “Hmmm, yeah that one is nice too. Shall we check with Noah?” Jessica replied. Ashley had grown fond of the way that Jessica ran everything past her twin, it was sweet. “Definitely.” She replied. Jessica walked over to the second trapdoor in the floor. This room was like the hub of the house, there was almost a door leading everywhere, thanks to her dad’s building skills. There was one to get to the roof, one to get the main landing and one to get to Noah’s room from when they were little kids. Jessica could lock all of them from her side and Noah could lock the one leading to his room for privacy reasons but they never really did. Jessica knocked on the trapdoor and waited for a reply that allowed her to open it. She heard a muffled “Yeah.” From downstairs and lifted it up, poking her head and upper body through it so that she was hanging upside down with the book in her hand. “What do you think about this dress for prom?” She asked her brother, who was sitting on his bed, with Caleb, watching The Avengers. He carefully slid Caleb off him and made his way to the ladder, climbing up it slightly to look at the dress in the scrap book. Taking a glance, he looked at Jessica. “I don’t think that it would suit me.” Ashley laughed as she heard the exchange from above. Jessica playfully hit Noah with the scrap book before he grinned and nodded. “It’s lovely. But then again, both of you would suit any of them!” He called up so that Ashley would hear too. 

The next day, they put their plan into action, going to the mall to look for prom dresses. Noah was coming too as Halle (who was way too excited) was going to help him look for a suit. “Ok then, take as long as you want, just call me when you want picking up, I imagine we’ll be done before you two.” Halle said before they went to the different shops. Jessica and Ashley were a brilliant shopping combination, mainly because they were honest with each other. Their first stop was unsuccessful, as was their second, but the third was a hit. Ashley found her outfit first. She wanted a two piece, the top to be slightly cropped. What she found was a white two piece, the bottoms were white culottes, ¾ length and so simplistically beautiful when paired with the top, which was indeed, cropped and finished off with a layer of blue lace over the white background. Ashley twirled around in it before spotting Jessica coming out from the changing rooms. She was wearing a dress. An amazing dress, it was vintage, 20s style. The top half was backless and had a cubed off v neck going down to her nave, but it didn’t look like too much at all. It was a baby blue with the top having a folded layers covered slightly by a netting like material that continued down to the floor. Jessica nervously edged her way towards Ashley. “What do you think?” She asked, slightly timidly. “That is the one.” Ashley responded definitively. It suited her so well. The exact same thoughts were running through Jessica’s head. “Your’s too.” She replied with a bright smile on her face. 

They bought the outfits and gave Halle a ring to pick them up. “Let’s see them then!” Halle squeaked, she looked more excited than Caleb and Levi last Christmas! “Nope, sorry mom. You’ll get to see them on prom night.” Jessica said as the climbed into the car, resting the dress bag straight on her lap so that she wouldn’t crease it. “What do you mean I won’t get to see them until prom night! I’ve been dreaming of this moment since the 1st of January 1992!” Halle responded incredulously. Jessica and Ashley laughed as Halle let out a little sigh of acceptance. 

It was prom night and the girls had just gotten back from having their makeup and hair done. Jessica had her golden tresses tumbling down her back, curled in 40s fashion with a side part and a small section near the front pinned back. Ashley’s brunette locks were straightened and had been tied back in an effortless ponytail that she had rested over her shoulder. Their makeup was naturalistic and subtle, neither of them wanted to look back on the pictures in a couple of years and see a pair of clowns. They had also had their nails done, Ashley had hers in a blue that matched her top and Jessica’s were a nude colour. They got changed into their dresses downstairs as climbing down that ladder in a dress, no thank you! Once they were both ready they made their way down to the bottom floor. Jessica had gone for nude patent stilettos and Ashley had opted for white leather ones that were surprisingly comfortable. They got to the bottom of the stairs and spotted Halle, who immediately started to cry. This is precisely why they didn’t let her see the dresses prior to their prom night. Alex popped his head out of the kitchen to have a laugh at Halle before wandering through and complementing the girls on how pretty they looked, pulling his wife into a hug. The girls were yet to see Noah’s suit so they paid great attention when he stood up. It was dark blue with hints of black tartan. His tie was grey and his shoes were pointed brown brogues. The ensemble was very aesthetically pleasing to look at and the girls had no doubt that it was mainly down to Halle. Once Jessica’s mom had stopped crying they all got together outside, against a rose bush and had their pictures taken. One of all of them, one of the twins, one of Jessica and Ashley and one of Ashley and Noah. Halle had taken them on her big camera, that is what she did as a job, she was a photographer so they turned out very well. 

Prom was a nice evening, nothing spectacular happened. Noah had been mortified to find out that he had been nominated as prom king but was over the moon when he found out that it hadn’t gone to him. Neither Ashley or Jessica drank, it seemed like an incredibly poor idea. They just enjoyed themselves best they could and it was a lovely night if you ignored the occasional puking high school senior.

The next week, their acceptance letters came through. They had applied to the same places, Jessica wanted to continue with music, Ashley wanted to do English Language. They gathered together to open the letters. “One two three.” They counted together, then opened the letters. “You first.” Jessica nodded at Ashley. “I got in.” she responded. Jessica tackled Ashley in a bear hug, luckily they were sitting on Jessica’s bed at the time so nothing too catastrophic happened as a result. “So did I!” The pair were happy that they’d been accepted to the same university, they couldn’t imagine what would happen if they hadn’t. 

The two headed downstairs to tell Halle and Alex the good news. First they bumped into Noah on the landing. “Did you get accepted?” Jessica asked her brother. Noah hadn’t applied for any colleges, he’s never been particularly academic, so instead, with the full support of the family, he had applied to the army in the hope of becoming an officer. “I did. I got in.” Noah said, happily. Jessica jumped onto him for a hug, he wrapped his arms around her and span round for a second before putting her down and hugging Ashley. “What about you two?” Noah questioned, nodding towards the letters in the girl’s hands. “We both got in.” Ashley replied, wiggling the letter in front of herself to prove it. The three of them headed downstairs, Jessica picking up Levi and Noah picking up Caleb, resting them on their hips on the way to the kitchen where Halle and Alex had been nervously waiting for them. As soon as they entered the kitchen the parents hopped up off the kitchen counter to talk to them. “I got in.” Noah said, smiling. “So did we.” Jessica said, gesturing towards herself and Ashley. Halle immediately sounded a shriek and pulled them all into a hug, joined quickly by Alex. “I’m so proud of you all!”  
#  
Barden had been a big move for Jessica, she had never been this far from her family and was definitely missing them. Luckily, Ashley gave her the sense of home and security. Their first year went by like the click of the fingers. Before they knew it, they were standing on a stage in New York having won the ICCAs for the first time! Noah had completed his training and was now serving as an officer in the army, everything was going so well. The Bellas had gotten their own house, Ashley and Jessica took the attic room, naturally. They were both sat on Jessica’s bed, doing the same routine that they had done so many times. They were watching a film with popcorn, just enjoying each other’s company, still coming off the high of winning an international competition! Jessica suddenly turned to Ashley and paused for a second, before turning back round again. “What, what is it?” Ashley asked, giving Jessica her full attention. “I was just wondering, we’ve never really discussed it… you know I’m gay, right?” Jessica said, as casually as she possibly could. “Yeah… you know I am too… right?” Ashley replied, taking longer than she probably should have forming the sentence. “Yeah, yeah. I know.” Jessica said. That was all the conversation needed. 

The next year, they won the ICCAs again. This time, the Bellas had a party. Again, neither Ashley or Jessica drank. Neither of them ever did but this time it was because they were flying back to Wisconsin the next day. After making sure that none of the Bellas were going to choke on their own vomit or leave the house in a drunken stupor, the girls retired to their rooms. “You know, it was this time last year we came out to each other.” Ashley said as they were packing their bags. “I was just thinking about that.” Jessica replied, turning around while she folded a sundress. “Really?” Ashley asked, surprised. “I mean, yeah.” Jessica said as she turned back to her suit case and pressed the sundress in, before wandering over to the bed and sitting at the edge. “Ashley… do you ever think that we could make a go of it?” she said, wringing her hands out in her lap. Ashley let out a breath, by the sounds of it, she had been holding it in for a fairly long time. “I’m so glad that you just said that!” Ashley gushed, rushing over to sit next to Jessica, taking her hands to stop her from wringing them. “Wait, since when?” they both said at the same time. “Prom.” They both replied. The two of them laughed and moved in to peck one another on the lips, nothing more, just a peck. They smiled and without needing to say any more, they carried on packing their bags while listening to ‘Only Other Person In The Room’ which had always been their song.

The plane journey was long, but the new couple just watched a load of the films on the in flight entertainment, namely Mama Mia and the new Captain America film, to prepare themselves for the two little guys that would greet them at the airport. Once the flight landed, they gathered their bags and wheeled them out to meet Jessica’s parents and younger brothers. The two boys were now a fair bit bigger and had developed a spray of freckles along their noses in the summer months, just like Jessica. Caleb gave Jessica a quick squeeze before heading over to be picked up by Ashley. Levi stayed with his sister and after all of the greetings were over they headed out to the car park. Caleb sat on top of Ashley’s suitcase, Levi on Jessica’s as they maneuvered them through the parking lot to the car. Now that Jessica and Noah were living away, Halle and Alex had traded in the Focus for a 4x4 to go with the transit van, so luckily, none of them had to sit in the boot. Once they got home, they took Jessica’s parents into the kitchen to tell them about their new relationship. “Wait, you’re telling us that you have only just gotten together?” Alex said, confused. “We thought that you’d been together for years… since before prom!” Halle laughed. Jessica and Ashley both gave a sheepish grin. It probably shouldn’t have taken them this long to figure everything out, especially when everybody else already had. 

The next day, Noah got home, he had a couple of weeks off for the summer. They all made plans to take the younger two Smiths to the waterpark seeing as it was warm outside. Jessica and Noah got extremely competitive when it came to who could make it down the chutes quicker. It seemed like they were Caleb and Levi’s age, not the twenty year old adults that they actually were. Ashley found this, of all things hilarious, honestly, there was nothing funnier than sibling rivalry. Caleb and Levi enjoyed nothing more than the rapids, you basically free fell down this open top grounded slide that was going down a hill, there was drops and twists and turns but the two of them were adrenaline junkies and were constantly making the three older ones do this sort of thing. Noah was especially good on the rapids thanks to his army training, it seemed a little unfair, really, but as he was the heaviest, he dropped the quickest and smacked his head a couple of times on the plastic. The army hadn’t changed Noah at all, he was still the goof ball that Ashley had met on that first day of school, he hadn’t been hardened at all. They stayed in the waterpark for hours, entertaining the little ones by allowing them to win in splash wars and throwing them up in the air for them to come crashing back down to reality when they hit the water. 

Back at the house, Jessica and Ashley were sat up in Jessica’s room, towelling off their hair. “Levi’s birthday is in three days.” Ashley said, suddenly remembering. “I haven’t gotten him anything!” she exclaimed. “Neither have me or Noah, obviously mom and dad have their presents all sorted out.” Jessica said, pulling her lip to the side in an ‘oopsie daisies’ face. “We’ll have to go to the mall tomorrow.” Ashley said. “Do you have any idea what he wants? It was usually much of the same. Ever since Ashley had first met the boys, they had both been obsessed with Marvel. Caleb loved Iron Man and Levi loved Captain America best of all. “I imagine that he’ll want some Captain America stuff, but we’ll have to get Caleb something too, so that he doesn’t get jealous.” Jessica laughed. “That’s the good thing about being a twin, you can’t get jealous on the other one’s birthday!” Ashley smirked. “Plus, yours is New Year’s Day, so you’ll never not have a party to go to!”

The next day, Noah, Jessica and Ashley went to the mall to scout out some presents for the boys. They went to the comic shop that had just opened and struck gold. The twins had decided to club together so that they could get a bigger present and ended up settling at a huge, metal Captain America shield with a matching costume and t-shirt for Levi and an Iron Man t-shirt for Caleb. Ashley got the birthday boy big Captain America Funko Pop and then got the new Lego Marvel Xbox game for them to share. Satisfied with their buys, they popped to the flower shop and bought some white roses before heading home.

It was Levi’s birthday and the house was all set up for a party. Levi was a popular kid, simply because he was nice, as was Caleb, so they had a fair amount of kids coming round. There was a big party table set up outside and big golden balloons spelling out ‘Happy Birthday, Levi’ on the porch. Levi and Caleb were over the moon with their gifts from everyone and there were hugs all around before the party started and kids began to arrive. To say the least, it was a fairly stressful day. Some kid was sick, there were party streamers everywhere, basically it was just like being back at the Bella house. The party was fun for Levi, however, who later described the day as ‘the best birthday ever’, a statement that they were all sure wouldn’t stand, seeing as he was only six. Their summer break was over in seconds, they left the same day as Noah, to avoid feeling like there was a member of the family missing.  
Cut to two years later, graduation day. Both Ashley and Jessica’s parents, along with Noah, Caleb and Levi made it for the day, for the moment they got to throw their caps into the air and say that they did it. After graduation, Jessica and Ashley moved out to New York. They wanted nothing more than to return to Middleton, and one day they definitely would, but they had both gotten jobs out there, in the music industry, Jessica providing backup vocals on sound tracks and Ashley playing the guitar around different venues in the city. They were happy, very happy. 

A year after graduating, they were living in a decent sized apartment, and occasionally, the ever growing Caleb and Levi would come to stay with their parents, Noah coming to stay whenever he got the chance.  
It started off a normal day. Jessica went out to work while Ashley stayed and did the general work before heading out to do a couple of guitar lessons for a couple of kids around the general area. When she got home, Jessica was there too. She wasn’t usually. She was sitting on the couch, her phone in her hands. Her eyes were red and puffy, she was hunched over. This was not the usual Jessica. “Jessica?” Ashley asked, rushing over to sit next to her other half. “What is it, what’s happened?” Jessica tried to speak but couldn’t there was no noise coming out. “Take a breath, take a breath.” Ashley soothed, rubbing her back. Jessica took a deep breath and shakily let it out, twisting herself to look at Ashley. “It’s Noah.” She began, fresh tears already welling up in her eyes. “He… his squadron was caught in an ambush. He was shot… in the chest. Punctured lung. Touch and go.” Jessica crumpled like a plastic cup under a boot. She was in pieces. Ashley felt herself welling up, she couldn’t show it. She hugged Jessica tightly and rocked her back and forth. Jessica sat up and sniffled. “They say… they say that twins are supposed to feel each other’s pain. We never believed any of it but I still should have known. I should have known that something was wrong.” Jessica said, her voice raw. 

Jessica fell asleep, it was only four in the afternoon but there was nothing else that she could really cope with doing. Ashley got the phone to Alex as soon as Jessica had fallen asleep. Noah was being flown back as they spoke and was going to be transferred to Middleton’s hospital so that he was close to his family. Ashley told Alex that they would be there as soon as possible. She hopped on the computer and booked their plane tickets, they were more expensive than anything and the flight left in three hours. She threw their clothes into one suitcase and called a cab to the airport. Ten minutes before it arrived she woke Jessica up, got them both dressed and before they knew it, they were on a plane back home. Alex picked them up from the airport and carried Jessica to the car. Halle wasn’t there as she was in the same state as Jessica, almost unresponsive to anything. It was up to Alex and Ashley to be the strong ones. Jessica slept across the back seats as they drove back home. They still lived in the same house, they hadn’t moved, it was home and they couldn’t even if they wanted to. There wasn’t a hope of getting in to Jessica’s room so Alex carried her into Noah’s room. Ashley gave Alex a consoling hug and then let him rest, settling down herself on the floor. 

Ashley woke up at seven to get the boys ready for school with Alex. She had barely slept and by the looks of things, the same went for Alex. The boys, however, had no idea what was going on, so Ashley and Alex acted upbeat for them and cooked pancakes for breakfast. Around eleven that morning, they got a call telling them that Noah had arrived at the hospital and was going in for surgery. They said that he would be finished no earlier than three but to get there at two, just in case. They both wandered upstairs to tell their other halves the developments when Alex noticed that Halle wasn’t in bed. Ashley wandered into Noah’s room, where Jessica was sleeping and spotted the two of them curled up together, asleep. She exchanged a look with Alex and the two mutually decided to just leave them as they were. A couple of hours later, Alex walked through the front door, having gone out to buy Noah some toiletries and pyjamas. He’d gotten some photos printed for him as well, and put them in a little album for his bedside table. The photos ranged back from when him and Jessica had just been born to a couple of months ago at Caleb’s tenth birthday where Noah had delighted him by turning up in his army uniform, it was like one of those super cute videos off YouTube. 

Alex might look like your regular tough guy but ever since the day Ashley had met him, it had been clear that he had a heart of gold. A real family man. The situation was clearly having a huge effect on him, he just really didn’t want to let it show. Alex put the bags on the kitchen counter and let out a loud sigh. Ashley walked over and pulled him into a hug. The man had been like a second father to Ashley, she probably knew him better than her own. They released each other and Ashley held him at arms length. “You alright?” Stupid question, she knew that, but it felt like the right thing to say. Alex smiled sadly. “No. But I have to be. For them.” Alex nodded at the stairs just as his wife and daughter made their way down them. The two women were dressed, but not dressily. Ashley thought that this was the most dressed down she had ever seen Halle, who was wearing fleece bottoms, Uggs and a tank top, almost exactly the same as her daughter, who wore a Bellas baseball shirt, track pants and flip flops. Alex held his arms out towards Jessica who hadn’t properly greeted her father at all, as she’d been either asleep or drowsy since she’d gotten off the plane. She wrapped her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, this seemed to be the go-to hug for this family. Halle joined in with the hug, accepting Alex’s free arm and burying her face into Jessica. Nobody made any noise. Ashley stood and watched the scene unfold until Halle pulled out of the hug and walked over to Ashley, giving her a heartfelt embrace.

They got to the hospital for two. Noah wasn’t out of surgery so they waited in the family room until the surgeon came out and called out his name, “Lieutenant Noah Alexander Smith.” the family stood up and the surgeon walked over to deliver the news. “So the first thing that you need to know is that he is fine. We patched up his lung, he is stable, he will definitely live. The second thing that you need to know is that he won’t be able to return to the military, he is going to be awarded a full honourable discharge and the medal of bravery. That is all I can tell you at the moment, but we expect him to make a full recovery, with time, he should be able to live a normal life once this is all over.” The family nodded, Alex shook the surgeons hand and asked if they could see him. The surgeon directed them over to the recovery ward where Noah had been given a private room. 

He wasn’t awake yet, but he didn’t look like anything was wrong. The only clue was the huge pad and bandage that wound its way around his otherwise bare chest. The nurses had told them that she should wake up in about eight hours, and that he might not be able to talk when he does, because of a. the punctured lung surgery and b. the breathing tube that had been forced down his throat. Ashley stayed for this information and then rushed off to pick the boys up from school while the others sat with him. 

Ashley got through the gates in time to pick them up. She had called ahead to ask for a quick word with their teacher. She went through the office and into their classroom where she met Mr Jackson. “Hi, Ashley Jones.” She said, extending a hand out to Mr Jackson. “A pleasure, Miss Jones. Before I get started, may I first ask what your relation is to Caleb and Levi?” Ashley knew that this would come up, and she was fully prepared for it, which was why Alex had written the school a letter, to explain. “I’m their sister’s girlfriend.” She said, handing the letter of confirmation over to the teacher. “Would that be Jessica?” Mr Jackson asked, not intrusively. “Yes.” Ashley stated. Mr Jackson scanned over the letter to confirm this and turned back to Ashley. “I taught them when they were this age,” Mr Jackson began to say. “how are Noah and Jessica?” Ashley began to explain. “That’s the thing. Noah enlisted in the forces straight out of high school, he’s a Lieutenant, but his squadron was ambushed two days ago and he was badly shot. They’ve transferred him back over here to be taken care of but the family are staying with him, he got out of surgery about half an hour ago.” Mr Jackson’s face went pale and slightly green. “Oh my word, how awful!” He said genuinely. He wasn’t just putting on the tone, he seemed mortified for them. “Do the boys know?” he asked. “Not yet. I’m taking them to the hospital now, their parents are going to explain before he wakes up.” Ashley explained. “Right then, you must be going.” Mr Jackson said firmly. “We wouldn’t want them to be away from their parents for much longer, not at a time like this. If they need a few days off school just call and let the office know, I can guarantee it will be no problem at all.” Mr Jackson said, handing the letter back to Ashley. “I think that is the opposite of what these kids need, but thank you very much, Mr Jackson.” She said sincerely. 

She quickly drove the boys to the hospital, probably breaking the speed limit multiple times but she wanted them to be there for when Noah woke up. They got to the room just as Alex and Halle stepped out, taking one boy each in a hug before swapping over. Ashley went and sat with Jessica and Noah while they explained the situation to the boys. Ashley watched through the window. They didn’t cry. They just stayed quiet. Ashley checked if it was alright with Jessica before stepping back out of the room to check if everything was ok. She sat outside with the boys for a while, while Alex and Halle went to get coffee and food.

Jessica had been sitting with Noah for three hours. “We never believed in twinnie powers. We used to laugh, wind people up with the idea of it. I remember doing it to Ashley when we first met. When you first introduced us. It’s always been us, Noah. Us two. The Smith twins. People always said we were practically the same person. I love you so much.” Jessica was holding onto Noah’s hand. She put her head down on it and closed her eyes. “I love you too.” 

Jessica’s head shot up. Noah opened one eye and then the other to look at her. “I love you, Jessica. And mom, dad, Caleb, Levi. Even Ashley. I love you.” Jessica’s eyes lit up. If it wasn’t for the healing hole in her brother’s chest she would have given him one of her trademark bear hugs. “You’re awake!” couldn’t believe it! “Ashley! Ashley!” she yelled through the glass window, not wanting to leave her brother. Ashley snapped her head around to see Jessica grinning and crying through the window. “Get mom and dad, he’s awake!” Ashley told Caleb and Levi to go into Noah’s room while she sprinted down the corridor to the cafeteria. “Alex! Halle! He’s awake!” She shouted when she spotted them. They dropped everything immediately. “Alex, go!” Halle yelled happily, pushing her husband ahead, knowing that he would get there first. Alex took off down the corridor like a rocket, almost taking out a couple of the nurses. Ashley waited for Halle before the two of them sprinted towards Noah’s room.

Three weeks later it was Noah’s discharge day. He had to stay in a wheelchair to move around and Alex would have to carry him up the stairs to his room. He wasn’t allowed to walk for another month but hey, he was alive! Halle and Ashley had decorated the house with welcome home banners everywhere and they had all decided that they’d have a barbeque for dinner, even though it wasn’t a Friday. Noah was doing incredibly well. He’d passed his psych evaluation and was good to go. Over the next few weeks, Jessica and Ashley made the decision to move back to Middleton. It was always the plan, it was just happening sooner rather than later. 

They took Noah house hunting with them. Although they loved staying with Jessica’s parents, they wouldn’t want to move in permanently. Alex had offered to get his company on any work they wanted doing to their new house, so it didn’t really matter the condition that it was in, as long as they liked the area. They easily picked one. It was a slightly smaller version of what Halle and Alex’s house looked like. One of the requirements for Jessica and Ashley was that there was an attic with a big window. They couldn’t imagine not having an attic room. The new house was only on the next street along from Alex and Halle. Construction began on the house as soon as they had finalised their payments. Jessica and Ashley had both earned a fair amount of money from their jobs in New York, so they bought the house, straight instead of renting it. Construction was over soon, the only things that had to be added was a set of stairs to the attic room (because they were sick to the teeth of not being able to get up there after a night out) and a trapdoor that lead to the roof. 

Noah was sitting on the couch at his parents’ house when Caleb and Levi bounded up to him and sat themselves either side of the couch. “What do you two little terrors want?” Noah grinned, jokingly. “We had to partner up and do presentations on someone we look up to in school.” Caleb started, nodding at Levi. Although they weren’t twins they were often mistaken as such because they were in the same grade and looked exactly the same as each other, just as the other Smith children did. “Who did you two do then?” Noah asked. He was genuinely interested. Levi grinned. “You and Jessica. Our teacher wants us to present ours in the school assembly tomorrow. Will you, Jessica and Ashley come?” Levi explained. Noah felt his chest swell and this time it wasn’t with pain, it was with pride. His little brothers looked up to him and his twin. “You can try and stop me!” He said, gently tickling the two of them into fits of laughter.

Halle and Alex were both at work when the assembly was happening so they couldn’t make it, but Jessica wheeled Noah into the school hall to take his position with the other parents, with Ashley in tow. The assembly started and Mr Jackson introduced the two boys. “My name is Levi David Smith.” Levi kicked it all off. “And my name is Caleb James Smith, we are brothers.” As he said this, a picture of the two of them appeared on the board. “Not twins.” They said in unison, creating a small ripple of laughter from the parents.

“But we have an older brother and sister, and they are twins.” Two pictures of Noah and Jessica appeared on the board, one from just after they were born and one from their prom night. “Where did they get those pictures?!” Noah whispered to Jessica. “I don’t know but I’m going to kill mom and dad.” She said with a chuckle. “Our brother is called Noah Alexander Smith.” Levi said, pointing at Noah’s baby picture, “And our sister is called Jessica Alexandra Smith.” Caleb said, pointing at Jessica’s baby picture. “They’re 24.” The two boys said, as a picture of Jessica and Noah came up on the board. It was taken a few months ago, the last time they saw each other before Noah was shot. “Jessica is a singer, a proper singer. She has won the international collegiate competition of a capella three times and the world championships once,” a picture of The Bellas popped up. “she has also sang backup vocals on lots of famous people’s music.” Levi said as pictures of some of the singles Jessica had sang backup on flew past the screen. “Jessica had just moved back here with her girlfriend, Ashley, who has also won all of those a capella competitions and is a professional musician too.” A picture of the two of them appeared on the board, the same one that they both had as their screensavers. Jessica looked over at Ashley who was engrossed in the presentation, a big smile on her face. “We look up to Jessica because she followed her dreams and made something of them, while being true to herself at the same time.” Caleb said matter of factly, nodding at Jessica, smiling.

“Noah is the older twin. He was born two minutes before Jessica.” Levi explained, as if that was the most important information in the world. “Noah joined the army straight out of high school and served our country for six years.” Caleb said, pushing his chest out to act as the macho man, making Noah laugh. “He was an officer and became a Lieutenant.” Up on the board there was a picture of Noah in his uniform, standing at attention. The kids sitting in front of the parents looked in awe at the picture. “That’s hardly fair, you got a bigger reaction than me!” Jessica whispered across to her twin. Noah just grinned. “Neck scarf versus beret… beret wins every time.” He laughed lightly. Levi and Caleb put their serious faces on. “Three months ago, Noah’s squadron were ambushed and Noah was shot in the chest.” There was a dead silence as a picture of Noah in hospital came on the board. It was about a week after the shooting, Noah was slightly propped up in his hospital bed with Jessica, Caleb and Levi sitting around him, all of them were smiling, including Noah, who also had his thumbs up. “Noah had a punctured lung, but he made it through it all and had almost made a full recovery.” Levi said with a huge smile on his face. “We look up to Noah because through everything, he kept on smiling and never let anything get him down.” 

Jessica and Noah felt themselves welling up. “Whoever cries first loses.” Ashley whispered. She knew that this would mean neither of the twins would, she didn’t want there to be black mascara tears staining Jessica’s face for the inevitable pictures. She smirked when out of the corner of her eye she spotted the twins nocking their heads back as an attempt to stop themselves from crying, it seemed to work. “What none of you know is that Jessica and Noah are sitting behind you with the parents.” Almost immediately the kids watching the assembly snapped their heads round to look at the twins. Jessica and Noah looked at each other and then back at the kids, waving simultaneously. “Thank you very much for your attention.” Caleb and Levi said in unison. Mr Jackson started off the round of applause that followed. Caleb and Levi ran over to Jessica and Noah, Caleb being hoisted up onto Jessica’s shoulders and Levi sitting on Noah’s lap. 

The picture was adorable. They had remained in those positions while they talked to people and Ashley saw her opportunity, grabbing a picture from behind, side on. Caleb was clutching onto Jessica’s head, Jessica was holding onto the handles of Noah’s wheelchair as she pushed him around and Noah’s arms were wrapped around Levi to secure him on his lap. It became everyone’s new screensaver

A year had passed since then. Noah was now working with Alex’s building company after being given the go ahead by his doctors. The only reminder of his ordeal was a thin white line down his back, which was practically invisible. Jessica and Ashley had well and truly settled into Middleton, with Jessica flying back to New York one weekend a month to record vocals and Ashley resumed her routine that she had set while in New York, doing performances, teaching lessons. Everyone was happy. “Ashley,” Jessica called up the stairs of their house. “Yeah, what’s up?” Ashley responded, jogging down the stairs, Jessica turned around her phone to show her a text that she had just got from Emily. “Fancy a Bellas reunion?”  
The next week, the two of them arrived in New York. They didn’t carry much, just a duffel bag each. Once they had settled into their hotel Ashley turned to Jessica. “The first day I came to yours, I asked you about your dad’s tattoos, you said that he got them on a trip to New York to remember a special occasion.” Ashley said, Jessica now turned around to look at her girlfriend. “Are you suggesting what I think you are?” Jessica asked, strolling over to look Ashley in the eyes. Ashley nodded. “We can’t pick them, though. Someone else has to.” Ashley said, raising her eyebrows. “I know the perfect people.”

Jessica called her parents on FaceTime. “Right, mom, dad, two things, is it ok is we get tattoos?” Jessica asked her parents. She knew that she didn’t need to ask but felt the need to anyway, as a common curtesy. “Yes, absolutely. What’s the second thing?” Halle said, exchanging a glance with her husband. “We need you to get Noah, Caleb and Levi. They’re going to pick it.” Ashley said, it took a second for Alex to register why this was their request but without saying anything, he went and fetched his sons and gave Noah his phone, so that it was just the boys on FaceTime. “So you’re trusting these two little terrors to pick your tattoos… ok. Can I help them so that you don’t end up with Captain America?” He said, laughing incredulously. Jessica and Ashley didn’t have any yet, but Noah had three: a line that formed a wave with a sun behind it, matched with a tattooed anklet around his right ankle, a geometric mountain on his left bicep and wings either side of his left foot. “We were hoping that you would.” Jessica replied, grinning like a little child. “Alright then, we’ll call you back in a few minutes when we’ve made our decision.

As soon as they were off the phone with the boys, they called Beca. “Hey, Beca, you know Bang Bang, right, he’s done a couple of your tattoos?” Ashley said to her friend down the phone. “Yeah, sure, do you want an appointment at his studio?” Jessica nodded frantically. “Yeah, it’s for me and Jessica, do you think that you could possibly get us one for today?” Ashley asked, she knew it was a long shot. “Totally, he owes me a favour. What time suits you?” Beca replied. She had gotten to know a lot of people during her time as a music producer and it had certainly come in very handy. “Anywhere between an hour and up until ten?” Ashley responded, they were flexible, it’s not like they had anything else to do. “I’m right on it, I’ll text you the time slot.” Beca replied as if it was going to be the easiest thing in the world. “Beca, you’re a star!” Jessica squealed down the phone. “No problem, I’ll see you tomorrow!” and with that, she hung up the phone. 

A couple of minutes later the boys phoned them back. “Right,” Noah began without even saying hello. “Caleb, tell Ashley what you want her to get.” The eleven year old took a deep breath and began to explain. “Ashley, we want you to get a geometric rose in black and white.” Ashley smiled at Jessica, this was along the lines of what they had hoped for. “Jessica,” Levi began, “you need to get a watercolour rose in a sort of redish pink with a dark green stem.” Jessica’s face lit up. She loved it! “And you’re both going to get it on the outside of your right forearm, nearest your wrist.” Noah added in. Nothing could possibly wipe the grins off of the girls’ faces. “We love it, thank you so much!” Jessica said down the phone making kissy noises, she heard Levi in the background make an ‘ugh’ noise that made her laugh. “We’ll send you a picture once they’re finished!” Ashley called down the phone, pulling on a hoodie.  
Two hours later they were sat in the studio having them done. It was over in a flash, they had pictures taken, for Instagram purposes and then they were off. They sent the pictures off to Noah who documented the family response. 

The next day they were sat in a bar with The Bellas, drowning their sorrows after seeing the newer, better Bellas perform when Aubrey came up with the idea of going on a USO tour to perform for the troops. Of course Jessica and Ashley were on board and by the time they knew it, they were touring Europe. Noah had been invited as a veteran to see them perform and was there for Jessica’s solo in ‘I Don’t Like It, I Love It’, it was the first time he’d seen his sister sing on a stage since he joined the army. It was not all smooth sailing (if you’d pardon the pun). There was a small, casual incident where they were held hostage, nothing too major.

“Have you got the ring?” Noah asked Ashley. They were in his room, he was staying at the same hotel as them and had been there when Ashley called up Alex and Halle to ask for their blessing. “I got it in Paris.” Ashley pulled a ring box out from her jacket pocket and opened it up for Noah to see what was inside. It was beautiful. It was white gold with a rectangular diamond at the centre, surrounded by smaller ones. The light bounced off it and Noah realised that he was holding his breath, letting it go, he looked back up at Jessica. “She is going to love it.” He said, breathlessly. He was completely taken aback by the beauty of the ring. They gave each other a quick hug before going their separate ways.  
It was the night of Beca’s debut as DJ Khaled’s warm up act. They were all nervous for her. Ashley wore a black jumpsuit, all of the Bellas had coordinated their outfits, I mean are you really a friendship group if you don’t coordinate your outfits? They had all decided to wear black gold and silver, and all of them succeeded. Ashley wore a black jumpsuit with a tie at the waist and cage heels while Jessica wore a black two piece, paired with a leather jacket and some block heels. 

The night so far had been a blur, Beca had invited them all on stage and the Bellas had accompanied Beca while she sang. Tears were in full flow and once the immense applause from the audience died down, Jessica heard a loud whistle, she located the source, which was Noah, still standing, still clapping. “Who was that?” Aubrey asked once they had gotten off stage. “My twin brother, Noah.” Jessica said, still smiling. “I didn’t know you had a twin… or that he was in the army!” Aubrey said, almost disappointed in herself. “Well, he isn’t any more. He’s a veteran, Medal of Bravery and all that jazz.” Jessica replied with a smile. 

Jessica and Ashley met up again after the Bellas celebratory meal. It was lovely, on a lakeside. Jessica and Ashley were wandering along the lakeside together when they got to a candle lit veranda. Ashley took Jessica’s hand and lead her over to it. “Look how beautiful this is.” Jessica said, turning around to admire their surroundings, not a clue what was going on. When she turned back around, Ashley was on one knee, holding a ring box. “Jessica, will you marry me?”  
Jessica was in shock, she knelt down and nodded. “Of course…yes, of course!” She said excitedly. The two kissed and stood up again, Ashley took Jessica’s hand and slid on the ring. “Perfect fit.” She said, happy that she had guessed correctly.

The wedding prep was in full flow. They had everything sorted apart from the most important things: outfits. Jessica had always dreamed of her dress and as she stood in the dress shop with her mother she felt tears of joy flowing down her face when she found the dress that she knew was the one. The dress was a mixture of block white and lace. The white formed an hourglass shape, with lace panels filling the rest as well as flowing down the arms and over her shoulders, exposing her back. The main body of the dress reaching the floor. Halle could have provided the state with water for a week the amount she cried. “I’m sorry… you just look so beautiful!” if Jessica didn’t know before, she certainly knew now that this was the dress that she was going to marry Ashley in.

The next weekend, after a recovery period, Halle went shopping with Ashley. Ashley’s parents had since moved to Hawaii so they couldn’t help with the prep. Ashley preferred it this way, though, her mother had always been a nightmare to shop with. Ashley didn’t want a dress, it just didn’t feel right. Instead she was looking for a jumpsuit. It had to be classy and it had to be white. She was getting it custom made. The lady took her measurements and then turned to Ashley. “Right then, what sort of jumpsuit are we getting” Ashley had made a collection of photos on her phone. “I’d like it to almost be like a pinafore in the way it’s put together. Chunky straps, brought in at the waist, fairly pinched and culotte ¾ length bottoms. I’d like it to be really simplistic.” Ashley said, pointing towards all of the pictures. The lady nodded and jotted down all of the information before bringing Ashley and Halle over to her computer where they digitally edited together a sketch of the outfit. By the time Ashley and Halle had left the shop, they were both over the moon, it was a month before the wedding and all they had to do now was get the bridesmaid dresses and the outfits for Noah, Caleb and Levi, who would definitely not be trusted to get them themselves.

Once the Bellas had texted their sizes over to the group chat, Jessica and Ashley got to work on the bridesmaid dresses. They went for two options and let the girls pick which one they wanted, there was a set colour, pale pink and a choice between a midi bardot dress with white stilettos (Chloe, Aubrey, Emily, Stacie and Flo went for that one) and a bardot ¾ jumpsuit with white block heels (which Beca, Amy, CR and Lily opted for) little baby Bella was having her own little dress made, it was the same as her mom’s but without the stilettos and straps.  
Now the only thing left to sort out, outfit wise was the boys. The girls knew, full well, that Caleb and Levi would refuse to wear something if they didn’t like it, so the only option was to take them shopping with them. It took two hours before they all found one that they liked, Noah was going to wear a variation of whatever the boys were going to wear. What they found, that would also match the colour scheme was a navy blue suit for each of them, the different being that the boys were going to wear burgundy bow ties and classic Timberland boots while Noah was going to wear a proper tie and brown brogues. 

Jessica and Ashley bought the wedding rings for each other and the deal was that they weren’t allowed to see them before they had to put them on each other’s fingers. They weren’t allowed to see each other in their respective outfits, either. “Noah come over here for a second!” Jessica called to Noah. It was Friday and they’d just finished clearing away the aftermath of the barbeque while Noah kept Caleb and Levi entertained with a game of soccer. Noah jogged his way up the porch steps and sat down opposite Jessica and Ashley. “Yah?” he asked, all hyper from the soccer. “We were wondering if you’d be our best man?” Jessica said, looking from Ashley to her brother. Noah smiled brightly and went around the table to give them both a hug. “Of course I will! Ugh, I love you guys!” he grinned, squeezing the life out of them… literally. “Ok Noah, we love you too, but oxygen, becoming a problem!” Ashley wheezed. “Oh, oops.” Noah laughed, sheepishly. 

It was the big day. Ashley’s parents had flown in from Hawaii to see the ceremony. The room was decorated with redish pink roses, obviously, and each chair had a dainty white bow tied around the back. Everyone stood up as the first few notes of the procession music were played. First down the aisle were the Bellas (and baby Bella carried by Stacie) followed on by Caleb and Levi who walked side by side in front of Noah who was bringing up the rear. Once Noah had gotten to the end of the aisle, Ashley started to make her way down, her arm linked with her fathers. People snapped pictures and there wasn’t a straight face to be seen amongst the congregation. Once Ashley got to the end of the end of the aisle, the turned to watch as Jessica appeared. Both of the women felt like they’d had the air sucked from within them as they saw each other for the first time on their wedding day. Jessica’s hair was brought up in a sort of messy french tuck, with a shorter, curled piece escaping at the front. Ashley had half of hers brought back in a carefully crafted heap at the back of her head, held in place with a couple of pearl encrusted pins that her mother had given her.

The ceremony whizzed by, they were at their vows. “Ashley, I remember when we were seventeen, it was a week after we had met, the first time you had ever come round to my house, the first time of many!” She laughed, Ashley smiled softly, so intrigued as to what Jessica was going to say next. “We were sat on the roof, chatting when I said that the dream was to meet the love of your life when you’re that age. I’m living the dream.” Ashley beamed, she didn’t think that Jessica even remembered that. “Wow, how can I follow that! The real answer is that I can’t, because you, Jessica are the best. There is no other way to put it, you’re simply the best-” Ashley and Jessica both held a finger up to Fat Amy who was poised and ready to burst into ‘Simply The Best’ by Tina Turner, “Don’t.” they said at the same time, earning a laugh from their friends and family. “I love you, Jessica.” Ashley concluded, Jessica mouthed the words back and they both smiled. 

They got to the part of the ceremony where they exchange rings, Noah got the two ring boxes out of his pocket and gave one each to Caleb and Levi, who handed them over to Jessica and Ashley. “Do you, Jessica Alexandra Smith take Ashley to be your lawful wedded wife?” asked the officiator, “I do.” Jessica replied, Ashley slid the ring onto Jessica’s finger, Jessica took a second to look at it, the ring was solid white gold, with three bands, one matte, one shiny and then the other matte. It was perfect and she knew that it would compliment her engagement ring perfectly, probably why Ashley picked it. “Ashley Francisca Jones, do you take Jessica to be your lawful wedded wife?” Ashley made direct eye contact with Jessica as she responded. “I do.” Jessica slid the ring onto Ashley’s finger. It was made up of little diamonds, encased in white gold. “I know pronounce you married, you may kiss your wife.”  
At the party everyone waited eagerly for the first dance. The song choice seemed obvious to whoever knew them. ‘And now they’re turning out the neon lights and I get to dance with the only other person in the room.’ The dance finished and everyone applauded before the dancefloor descended into a scene of controlled chaos. 

Two years later, Jessica and Ashley waited on the sofa, staring at the stick on the coffee table. “Two minutes. It’s been two minutes.” Ashley said, turning it over. Jessica still had her eyes shut. “Do you want to see or do you want me to tell you?” Ashley asked, trying to mask her excitement at the little plus sign. Jessica cautiously opened her eyes. “Tell me.” Ashley let a grin slowly creep onto her face. “You’re pregnant.” Jessica immediately leapt to her feet and onto the couch. “I’m pregnant?” she asked, needing further confirmation. “You’re pregnant.” Ashley yelled, ecstatically. Jessica began to jump up and down on the couch, not able to contain her excitement. 

Cut to nine months later, Jessica looked… well, she looked pregnant. Very, very pregnant. She was at her parent’s house, laying down on the sofa, watching the new Mama Mia. Noah came in with some popcorn and a glass of cranberry juice for each of them. Neither twin had ever drank, but the whole family was on a no alcohol policy at the moment in case one of them needed to drive Jessica to the hospital. “Here you go.” He said, passing Jessica the glass of cranberry juice. And lifting up her feet so that he could sit down, placing he feet back down on his lap once they had settled. The twins had just turned twenty eight a couple of weeks ago but were still just as close as they always were. “Thank you.” Jessica said, smiling as she accepted a handful of popcorn. She took a sip from her cranberry juice and almost spilled it down her front when she felt a drop. “Noah, get up a minute.” Her brother willingly got up from the couch, looking at Jessica for an explanation. She swivelled herself round so that she was sitting up and looked down. “Are you alright?” Noah asked, kneeling down next to his sister. “I think my waters just broke.”

Noah pulled into the maternity ward carefully, not wanting to take any chances when they were this close. He hurried round to the side of the car and got Jessica out, who had progressed into labour incredibly quickly. “Argh!” She moaned as she tried to stand. “Right, come here.” Noah scooped up his sister, easily, handing her the car keys so that she could lock the door. He jogged with her into the maternity ward. “Jessica Smith, she’s in labour.” He said to the receptionist. “Are you the boyfriend, husband?” the receptionist asked, tapping away at her keyboard to find Jessica’s details. “Ew, no!” they both practically screamed. “We’re twins!” they said in unison. The receptionist laughed to herself, there was simply nothing funnier than a situation like this. “Ok, down the corridor, to your left, one of our midwives will direct you to a delivery room.” Noah took off down the corridor with Jessica, yelling his thanks. 

He burst through the doors and a midwife called Jane directed them into Jessica’s room. Noah plonked his sister on the bed. She was fairly calm and controlled, considering she was in labour. “I’ll pop outside and ring Ashley, you try and get yourself into that.” He balled up the hospital gown that they had been provided with and threw it, purposefully and forcefully at Jessica’s face, ducking outside before she could throw something heavier at him. “Yeah, hi, Ashley, Jessica is in labour and its moving pretty fast by the looks of things… yep… yep… room 15… yeah, ok see you in a minute.” He knocked on the door before entering the room, after being given the go ahead, he went in, taking the seat next to Jessica. “I called Ashley, she’s going to phone mom and dad, they’ll pick up the boys and bring them here and then Ashley is going to be here in about ten minutes.

The whole Smith clan had arrived, Jessica was in the final stages so Alex, Noah, Caleb and Levi all waited outside to avoid the mental scarring while Ashley and Halle were in there for moral support. Alex and Noah pulled each other into a hug when they heard a cry, Caleb and Levi high fiving each other. Noah smiled. Looking at his younger brother’s reactions reminded him of his and Jessica’s reactions when they first heard their cries. Five minutes later, they heard another cry… wait… a second cry? Noah and Alex looked confusedly at each other. Ten minutes later, Jane left the room and Halle poked her head out, beckoning for everyone to come in. Jessica and Ashley were sat there with a baby each… each. Wait, what?  
“Undiagnosed twins.” Jessica explained. “This little guy was hiding behind his sister.” She said, bopping the nose of the baby she was holding. “Don’t keep us in suspense then, what are their names?” Alex asked, he looked like a child at Christmas. “This little one is Rosalie Halle.” Ashley said, nodding at the little girl she was holding. “And this little guy is Noah Alexander, known as Xander…” she glanced up at her twin and father. “if that’s alright with you two.” Jessica had never seen smiles like the ones she saw on her father and brother’s face. They looked like they had been given the world. “Of course.” Noah breathed out as a tear slid down his face. “Welcome to the world, twinnies!” Alex said as he and Halle were handed their namesakes.


End file.
